Ware turning and handling machine



Jan. 22, .1963

W. L. ELLIOTT WARE TURNING AND HANDLING MACHINE Original Filed June 5,1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 All llllllll r clllll l a l g 2 INVENTOR.

Wa/fer L. Elliaff HIS A TTOR/VEYS Jan. 22, 1963 w. L. ELLIOTT WARETURNING AND HANDLING MACHINE Original Filed June 5, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet2 j INVENTOR. 'J Walter L. E//off H/S ATTORNEYS Jan. 22, 1963 w. L.ELLIOTT 3,074,138

WARE TURNING AND HANDLING MACHINE I Original Filed June 5, 1957 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 5

INVENTOR. Wa/fer L. E//l'off H/` ATTORNEYS Jan. 22, 1963 w. L. ELLloTTAWARE TURNING AND HANDLING MACHINE Original Filed June 5, 1957 5Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Waller L. E/l/'ol Jan. 22, 1963 w. l.. ELLIOTT3,074,138

WARE TURNING AND HANDLING MACHINE Original Filed June 5, 1957 5Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Wa/fer L. Ell/0H HAS` ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent O 3,ii74,l3S WARE TURNING AND HANDLEQG NACHEIE Waiter L. Elliott,East Liverpool, Ohio, assignor to The Taylor, Smith ir Taylor Company,East Liverpooi, Ghia, a corporation of Ohio Original application June 5,1957, Ser. No. 663,626. H livigd and this application July 22, i960,Ser. No. a

1 Claim. (Cl. 25--22) The present application relates to the manufactureof hollow earthenware and china articles, particularly cups.

My parent application Serial No. 663,626, filed June 5, 1957, now PatentNo. 3,040,409, of which the present -application is a division, isprimarily addressed to cup turning mechanism used in conjunction with acup handling machine. Handling, as it is termed, is usually the finaloperation done with the turned cup material still semi-plastic or greenand the union of the handle with the green cup body makes it ready fordrying and firing.

In the subject matter to which the present -application is addressed,the invention relates to the turntables of the machine, its lsupportingstructure, the ware working mechanism operative by being mechanicallyactuated due to rotation of the turntable, and the attendant accessorystructure. This invention particularly relates to the timed air blastmechanism constituting one of such accessory structures and operating atthe right time to discharge waste scraps accumulating during each cupturning operation.

The novel structure provided according to the preceding paragraph hasthe desirable operating feature that the turntable structure is incontinuous motion, turning fairly rapidly and the cups being producedunder a sustained rate maintainable approximately at 110 dozen cups perhour. That rate is readily apparent as an increase several- =fold overthe production rates commonly yielded in production lines.

This invention is primarily adapted for cup manufacturing but it will beunderstood that the operating principles `apply with equal advantage tothe making of various chinaware and earthenware articles of a hollowconstruction requiring the attachment of appendages such as handles,spouts, or other projections in their manufacture.

Further features, objects, and advantages will either be specificallypointed out or become apparent when for fa better understanding of theinvention, reference is made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings which show a preferredembodiment thereof and in which:

FIGURES l and 2 are top plan and front elevational views of my handlesticking machine;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are similar to FIGURES 1 `and 2 respectively withcertain parts removed or shown in section for clarity;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion ofFIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a section taken on the line VI-VI of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of one of the sets of fixtures on the table inFiGURE 1;

FIGURES 8 and 9 show the cutter fixture respectively in top plan andlongitudinal sectional elevation views; and,

FIGURE l0 corresponds to FIGURE 8 but shows the cutter in the cuttingposition.

In FIGURES 1-4, I show a preferred embodiment of my machine adapted tocarry a relatively rotatable turntable 10 and a fixed platform I2 whichare of circular shape and which are mounted thereon in vertically spacedrelationship to one another. A generally upright frame 14 directlysupports the platform 12 and has a series of side diid Patented dan. 22,ih

braces lr6 which run diagonally between the base of the frame and therim of the fixed platform i2, The turntable lil forms a travelingcarrier for ten spaced sets S of fixtures which are mounted to revolvetherewith at the periphery and which in brief transfer ware W consistingof green cup bodies from a loading station A through a clamping stationB to a cutting station C for trimming the lip `of the cup, the tablerotation being counterclockwise as indicated by the arrow 18. A stationD Sponges the passing cups and at E the preformed green handles P areloaded into the lfixtures S. The preformed handles P are aiiixed to thecup bodies at station F and the completed cup still in the semi-plasticor green state is unclamped at G for unloading at the station H. At thisstation the finished ware W `with the handles affixed thereto is readyfor drying and firing.

The rim of the turntable l@ runs on a set of four rollers 20 which havefixed axles and which are supported on the platform l2 by means ofadjustable supports 22 of the slide rod and set screw type. A verticaldrive shaft 24 forms a supporting spindle for the table 1t? which iskeyed to the latter at 26 and which has its midportion and base mountedto turn respectively in a pilot bearing 28 and in a thrust bearing 3@which are secure in the frame 14. An electric drive motor 32 isconnected through a gear speed reducer 34 and a pair of meshing bevelgears '36 to drive the vertical shaft 2d. A hub-shaped air manifold 38at the center of the turntable iti forms a sealed rotary joint with acenter-fed fitting iti which is stationarily carried by an air supplypipe 42 amxed at its upper end (not shown) to an overhead support. Thefitting 40 has one radially extending port 41 which in successionregisters with ten ports 44 in the manifold 38, each supplying aradially extending air pipe 46 to blow scavenging air in the directionof the rim of the table to dispose of clay chips.

The fixed platform l2 carries a set of five arcuate cam rails 56, 5i,52, 53, and 54 mounted to its upper surface at different radialdistances from the drive shaft 24 (FIG- URE 4). VThe cam rails 50, 51,and 53 respectively, engage three vertically displaceable lift memberswhich operate various ones of the sets S of fixtures in a manner morefully described hereinafter. The cam rails 52 and 54 operate twolaterally displaceable operating members in the sets S.

A drive belt 57 disposed adjacent the trimming and sponging stations Cand D (FIGURE 3) is trained on fixed sheaves 5S such that the innerflight thereof runs as an encroaching chord on the arc of revolution ofthe table l0 and assists in the turning and sponging operationshereinafter described. A bumper wheel 60 with its axle fixed to theplatform 12 is disposed adjacent the unclamping station G (FIGURE 3) torotate the cup through a fractional part of a revolution generally afterthe manner of the drive belt 57 which serves to rotate the cup throughmultiple revolutions.

In FIGURE 7, l show one complete set S of the ten sets of fixtures onthe table 110. A handle holder fixture indicated at 9d is operatedautomatically by means of the two lift cam rails 5t) and 51 mounted tothe fixed platform lf2. A cup supporting fixture is generally indicatedat 92 and is automatically operated by means of the lift cam rail 53,and by means of the companion cam 52 which laterally displaces one ofthe operating members for the cup supporting fixture 92. A cutteriixture 94 operated by the cam rail 54 is used for the turning operationon the cup ware to trim the lip thereof.

The cutter fixture 94 for trimming the lip of the ware W at station C ismore particularly shown in FIGURES 3 through l0. A cover plate iddmounted across an opening in the table itl carries a pair of closelyspaced vertical rods having a common spacer plate 187 at their E upperend and one of which, indicated at 18S, is rotatable whereas the otherforms a xed post 190. A swinging cutter arm 192 has a fixed end whichencircles the rod 191i and the arm 192 carriers a cutter holder 194 atthe swinging end` thereof. The cutter holder 194 carries av gauge wheel196 which is mounted on a fixed vertical axle thereon and which runs onthe outer periphery of the ware W being turned in a plane slightly abovethe lip of the ware. A cutter knife 198 disposed below the gauge wheel196 is pivotally mounted at 206 tol swing relative tothe holder 194 andka spring 262 biases the cutter knife 198 in the direction of the ware W.The holder carries a fixed guard 264 at the outer` end thereof.

A shallow waste collecting tray 266 (FIGURES 7`, 8V and 9) is mounted tothe cover plate 186 at a point below the cutter knife 193 of each of thesets of fixtures S and eachv tray has a wide inner end across which theend length of one of the scavenging air pipes 46 is disposed; Each pipe46 is plugged at the end andv perforated along one side with a seriesofequidistantly spaced holes (FIGURE 9) to blow over the entire area ofthe tray. The walls of each tray 206 converge in a radially outwardlydirection (FIGURE 7) so as to definel a narrow throated chute 268 whichat one point inthe rotation of the turntablewill register with a wastecollecting chute shown at 21d in FIGURE 3;

The swingingv arm- 192 is pivoted ,into the operating position forcutting by means of a tension spring 212' of which one end is anchoredto a fixed anchor 214 andl the opposite end pulls on a finger 216 whichis rigidly secured to the hub of the arm 192. In that cutting positionas shown in FIGURE 1G the spring 212 holds the gauge wheel 196 solidlyagainst the ware W andL the spring 202' lightly biases the cutting knife198` against the lip of the ware W to trim sharp edges from it. A cutterretraeting cam 218 has a nose portion thereon engaging a cam followerfinger 220`- affixed to thev hub of they arm 192.

A tension spring 222 acts on a finger 224 fixed to the rotatable rod 18Sto bias the cutter retracting cam 218' into the operativey position withits nose engaging the cam follower 226y on the arm 192. However, anothercam follower 226 makes it possible for the' nose of the cam 218 to beautomatically rotated to an inoperative position nol longer blocking thecam follower 220, the first mentioned cam follower 226Abeing ast to thelower end of the rod 188 and carrying a roller that runs on the shortcam rail 54 on the platform'` 12. Thus in FIGURE 8 when the ramp of thecam 54 engages the roller on the follower 226 it moves the retractingcam to inoperative position whereupon the cutting knife 198 assumes thesolid line position of FIGURE and the cutter blade does not retractuntil the follower 226 runs off the camV S4 at the ank on its oppositeend.

As previously stated, the lip of a cup W is trimmed at' station C bycutter 198. The'resulting scraps fall into the tray 2136 located nearthat particular cutter. Upon further rotation of the turntable 16, theindividual trays 206 containing scraps successively come into registrywith the waste collecting chuteV 210. As each tray 2116 registers withthe chute 21), a blast of air from one of the pipes 46 blows the scrapsfrom the tray into the chute.

It is noted that the drive belt 57 of FIGURE l and the endless beltthereabove having he sponge facing 64 are power driven so as to runcontinuously and it is further noted that the cams Sil, 51, 52, 53 and54 provide for automatic operation of the turntable 10 as it iscontinuously rotated by the drive shaft 24 of FIGURE 4. The effectiverate of output of thisk automatic machine therefore depends solely on aconvenient running rate for the two loading operators at the stations Aand E of FIGURE l and the unloading operation at station H. With thismachine a very satifactory rate has been established with an output ofapproximately dozen cups per hour, but this particular output isgivenpurely by way of example and it can be varied faster or slower dependingon the experienceA and effectiveness of the operators themselves.

I have shown aK preferred embodiment of my invention but it isV to beunderstood that it may be otherwise embodied within the; scope ofthefollowingclaim.

1 claim:

1n' a ware'turning and handling machine, the combination of'a fixedplatform and? a rotatable turntable having a common frame for mountingsaid' platform and saidturntable in` vertically spaced apart relation toonel another inthe machine, a drive spindler in said frame mounted torrotate said table in continuous motion about a vertical axis, aplurality of sets of ware working fixtures supported on said table totravel therewith, fixturey actuating means carried in part on said tableand in part onA said fixedl platform so as to be responsive to tablerotation and connected to said plurality of setsof fixtures to'- causethem to perform working operations as the table rotates, each set 0fsaidxtures includingV a ware support, a cutter for trimming ware, a wastecollecting tray supported.v by' said turntable for eachy of saidyk setsof fixtures for receiving ware scraps cut by said cutters, a chute fixedtof the frame of the machine for receiving ware scraps from each of saidwaste collecting trays as it registers with said chute, an annular airmanifold coaxial with said spindle and having an air outletfor each ofsaidsets of fixtures, a fitting non-rotatably mounted insaid annular airmanifold and having a radially extending port which in successionregisters with the air outlets in said annular manifold as the turntablerotates, means for supplying air to said port, aplurality of radiallyextending air distribution pipes each connected at one end tol one ofthe outlets in said annular air manifoldv and; each having aportionthereof located adjacent one of said waste collecting trays fordirecting a blast ofair on the tray as it registers withsaid chute toblow ware scraps from the tray into'said chute.

References Cited inthe'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 917,627Lizotte Apr. 6, 1909 1,174,349- Reynolds Mar. 7, 1916 1,317,809- MotzOct. 7, 1919 2,255,615 Frankel .Sept. 9 1941 2,361,637 Hermani Oct. 31,.1944 2,390,118 Murch Dec. 4, 1945A 2,628,382 Fechheimer Feb. 17, 1953

